About The Book

In a society uprooted by war, industrialization, hate-filled ideology, and dehumanizing technology, Philip Britts sought a way of life where people could work together in harmony with the land and one another.

A farmer, poet, activist, pastor, and mystic, Britts (1917–1949) has been called a British Wendell Berry. His story is no romantic agrarian elegy, but a life lived in the thick of history. As his country plunged headlong into World War II, he joined an international pacifist community, the Bruderhof, and was soon forced to leave Europe for South America.

Amidst these great upheavals, his response – to root himself in faith, to dedicate himself to building community, to restore the land he farmed, and to use his gift with words to turn people from their madness – speaks forcefully into our time. In an age still wracked by racism, nationalism, materialism, and ecological devastation, the life he chose and the poetry he composed remain a prophetic challenge.

Jennifer Harries, a member of the Bruderhof, was born in Llansamlet, Wales, and now lives in New York.

About The Author

Acclaim

Britts’s unpretentious style brings immediacy to his subjects, and Water at the Roots provides enough context about his life, and the challenges of building a community in an environmentally difficult region, to underscore what the author was up against…. It’s a thorough book that illuminates an important but little-known writer.

Foreword Reviews

One of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. Alive with profound spiritual and practical insights, Britts’s words are timeless. You will be
deeply moved by his humble conviction expressed in thoughtful action.

Joel Salatin, author, Folks, This Ain’t Normal and You Can Farm

There is a deep sense of reality – true, eternal, and human reality – in Britts’ work… Here was a man who clearly articulated and lived out his beliefs. When one considers the back-breaking, dawn-to-dusk labor that was farming the Paraguayan Primavera for ten months a year with animal-drawn or human-powered tools, it seems amazing that he had time to produce such thoughtful and polished work. Yet, always is the sense of a man who may have been quietly composing while hoeing, whose spirit ever sat at the feet of his Master while his body was at work.

Remembered Arts Journal

There is much beauty in Britts’s thoughts, and a quiet radicalism too.…He warns that the worst possibility of progress would be to lose the organic connection with and intimate, tactile knowledge of the land: unlike “that indescribable sensation that comes, perhaps rarely, when one walks through a field of alfalfa in the morning sun, when one smells earth after rain, or when one watches the ripples on a field of wheat.” That is the agrarian spirit, the spirit of Wendell Berry and so many localists everywhere.

Russell Arben Fox, Front Porch Republic

Britts’s poems and musings offer a window into a life defined by clear Christian values of radical pacifism, love of neighbor, and care for the Earth. Britts provides a gentle corrective to modern impulses of acquisition and aggression, his ebullient verses always returning to wonder and awe at the natural world…. An inspiration for Christians and humanists seeking peace and purpose in a tumultuous world.

Publisher’s Weekly

What to do with one’s life? Britts answered this question as one who loved the land, its creatures, and its people. For those seeking a healthy and peaceful world, this book will be a provocation to a better way of living.

Norman Wirzba, author, Making Peace with the Land and Food and Faith

To read the poetry and prose of Britts today is an experience akin to reading Wendell Berry or Joel Salatin.… What emerges is the story of a man who lived his faith and lived his beliefs in community and farming. One gets the impression of a quiet, gentle man, but also a man of inner strength. More than 70 years after his death, the Bruderhof community he helped to create still flourishes. Water at the Roots is perhaps a good explanation of how that’s happened.

Tweetspeak Poetry

Philip Britts died at thirty-one, but this collection of poems and insights shows the depth and richness of his wisdom during those shortened years. His writings are reminiscent of Wendell Berry’s: they touch on the same themes of earth and faith, community and presence. It’s a short but lovely read.

Gracy Olmstead, The American Conservative

Water at the Roots is not only a stunning example of poetry and prose informed by agricultural work, faith, and war, but also a rare voice we’ve not heard before. With unique qualifications as a pacifist, a member and pastor of an intentional community, and a farmer in Paraguay during World War II, Britts has the authority to not only call for the restoration of land but also to call for the restoration of our humanity. This is a deeply important book for our times.

Lori Horbas, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The British farmer we meet in Water at the Roots is many things, but indecisive is not one of them. He would counsel us to lay down our arms (which means more than just actual weapons, though not less), to embrace the poor, and to turn our backs on a world that has turned its back on the crying baby that we meet in the Christmas story. If the church will have a future in the West … it will be because we see the little way of Philip Britts and find it beautiful. It will be because we heard a baby crying and we came to worship.

I found this book breathtaking. The young prophet Philip Britts lived the life we would all benefit from. Philip had a deep connection to the land, a profound understanding of the necessity of living within a nonviolent community and the daily...Read More

Review of Water at the Roots

I found this book breathtaking. The young prophet Philip Britts lived the life we would all benefit from. Philip had a deep connection to the land, a profound understanding of the necessity of living within a nonviolent community and the daily living of the gospel of Jesus in presence. His poetry speaks to our current time and is a welcome salve to all who read it. Thank you to the Bruderhof who so generously shared this book with me.

Bernice McCann

Bernice McCann

What makes this work great is the seamless integrity between poetry, essays and the life of the man. He has been called a “British Wendell Berry.” In many ways, he embraced a far more difficult life than Berry–a costly affirmation of pacifism in...Read More

Review of Water at the Roots

What makes this work great is the seamless integrity between poetry, essays and the life of the man. He has been called a “British Wendell Berry.” In many ways, he embraced a far more difficult life than Berry–a costly affirmation of pacifism in wartime Britain, a communal existence, emigration, and establishing a viable community under primitive conditions, an integrity of living with the land, and suffering that came from his embrace of that land. What comes through is the wonder of living in this creation with all its challenges, a sense of the tragedy of a world at war with itself when the Prince of Peace beckons, and a life permeated by the grace of God. Like Berry, he awakens us to what it is to live in harmony with the land one farms. Like Berry, he recognizes the treasure of life in a place, and in a community. Like Berry, he reminds us of the deep, pervasive presence of the grace of God in all of creation. The God whose grace waters us at the roots, sustaining our lives.

Bob Trube

Bob Trube

Read Water at the Roots to learn what a good man is all about: working, giving, improving, helping, thinking, always learning, and teaching... This book is rich with calm wisdom. We can all use lots of that now.

Brenda Dubin

Beautiful book; everything – the poems, the photos, even the introduction – this lovely tribute to earth should be given as a gift to a loved one… someone who means much to you and who knows the importance of stopping to breathe.

Jim Vail

The story itself is fascinating, but it was Philip's poetry that spoke most deeply to me. At only 17, he was already penning lines such as "What matter the eyes have seen so much that the soul is colour-blind?" He was a keen observer of nature...Read More

Review of Water at the Roots

The story itself is fascinating, but it was Philip's poetry that spoke most deeply to me. At only 17, he was already penning lines such as "What matter the eyes have seen so much that the soul is colour-blind?" He was a keen observer of nature, people, politics. His work shows intelligence and insight. He acknowledged pain and struggling, weariness and death, but somehow never seemed to lose his optimism and sincere thankfulness for life. In these turbulent times, this is a highly recommended read for those seeking both outer and inner peace.

Donna Marie Merritt

Donna Marie Merritt

Poetry, prose, and photographs... The words that form these works are well-chosen and beautifully arranged. Recommended for lovers of the literary. There is also an informative introduction that sets the stage for the book.

J.D. DeHart

This short beautiful book filled with Britts’s poetry, mostly devoted to the love of farming and the land is his ode, tracking a well written timeline, his affecting poetry and his love of the community of mankind. Brief, special, prophetic, unlike...Read More

Review of Water at the Roots

This short beautiful book filled with Britts’s poetry, mostly devoted to the love of farming and the land is his ode, tracking a well written timeline, his affecting poetry and his love of the community of mankind. Brief, special, prophetic, unlike most books on the market today.

John E. Drury

John E. Drury

The poems alone will take the reader back a couple hundred years in their tone and style… The love of the land and the lifestyle are far removed from today's industrial agriculture, GMOs, profits, and chemical fertilizers - a refreshing change. ...Read More

Review of Water at the Roots

The poems alone will take the reader back a couple hundred years in their tone and style… The love of the land and the lifestyle are far removed from today's industrial agriculture, GMOs, profits, and chemical fertilizers - a refreshing change. The religious aspects are gentle and open to all regardless of belief. Britts is a man who brought out the best in human nature and invited others to follow.

Joseph Spuckler

Joseph Spuckler

That Britts chose to root himself not only in God but in an intentional community which attempted to restore the land they farmed, makes his simple life itself one of great beauty and courage. He speaks powerfully to our own times, even as he...Read More

Review of Water at the Roots

That Britts chose to root himself not only in God but in an intentional community which attempted to restore the land they farmed, makes his simple life itself one of great beauty and courage. He speaks powerfully to our own times, even as he presciently foresaw much that was brewing in the middle of the 20th century with its idolatry of speed and progress and growth. A truly lovely, artful book.

Byron Borger, Hearts & Minds Books

Byron Borger, Hearts & Minds Books

Water at the Roots is not only a stunning example of poetry and prose informed by agricultural work, faith, and war, but also a rare voice we’ve not heard before. Though Britts’s writing falls in the agricultural timeline and tradition of Sir Albert...Read More

Review of Water at the Roots

Water at the Roots is not only a stunning example of poetry and prose informed by agricultural work, faith, and war, but also a rare voice we’ve not heard before. Though Britts’s writing falls in the agricultural timeline and tradition of Sir Albert Howard, an early organic farming pioneer, its scope, in both poetry and prose, is far more broad. With unique qualifications as a pacifist, a member and pastor of an intentional community, and a farmer in Paraguay during World War II, Britts has the authority to not only call for the restoration of land but also to call for the restoration of our humanity. This is a deeply important book for our times.

Lori Horbas, Boswell Book Company

Lori Horbas, Boswell Book Company

The spiritual wisdom that's here is as deep as the earth itself, and as old as human thriving with the land, when that thriving is seen as an expression of faith in God. What readers will ultimately find in this book is a living expression of the...Read More

Review of Water at the Roots

The spiritual wisdom that's here is as deep as the earth itself, and as old as human thriving with the land, when that thriving is seen as an expression of faith in God. What readers will ultimately find in this book is a living expression of the words of Acts from the New Testament. And that expression will change your life when you take it seriously. Water at the Roots is a book to relish – take the reading slowly. Let its refreshment transform you. It has me.